The capacitive method is considered to be a suitable icing-detection technology, but the lack of fundamental parameters restricts the development of icing-detection sensors. In this paper, an artificial icing laboratory, a capacitive sensor, and some simulation conductors have been designed for obtaining the artificial icing samples. Subsequently, the same characteristic values of artificial icing have been measured by an LCR device, under a selected frequency. This research found that the value of the icing dielectric constant closely correlated with its density, internal sublayer, and the test temperature. Finally, a fitting formula has been presented for calculating the relative dielectric constant, which may provide some important reference value for the design of icing-detection sensors.
Keywords: atmospheric icing; capacitive sensor; dielectric constant; icing-detection sensor; transmission line.